Joy

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, "No; he shall be called John." And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name." And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. - Luke 1:57‭-‬80 ESV 

Rev. Dan Whang

Joy restored

Israel was going through dark times for the sins of their fathers. They were considering their good old days rather than looking ahead. And now a barren woman gives birth and a fulfillment of a prophecy. Their neighbors heard about all this and rejoiced. For us, we look for joy in all the wrong places. We are setting goals for ourselves and feel joy when we meet them but are crushed when we fail. Joy doesn't falter in meeting frustration and suffering. God gives joys to those who remember their forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and adoption into the family of God.

Power displayed

The angel prophesized a baby was coming to his barren wife. The priest was not willing to believe the angel and asked for proof. So the angel made Zechariah mute for nine months. That would've been back at the beginning of the lockdown from this pandemic (covid-19). Imagine waking everyday and wishing you hadn't said that to the angel. Maybe God is bringing you into and through a dark valley. So consider that God is trying to bring us into greater trust and intimacy with Him. The priest and his wife both named their child John. And then God healed the tongue of the father. The healing didn't come with the child's birth, not until the naming of the child.

Praise lifted

The healing of being mute comes and the first things to come from the priest are words of praise. It is not simple obedience but whole heartedness. It is more than the continuing of the family line, but the fulfillment of God's will and the movement of God's kingdom. Do we only rejoice over things that we want and desire? How about those things that God desires?